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Prehistoric badger had dinosaurs for breakfast
nature.com ^ | 01/12/05 | Michael Hopkin

Posted on 01/13/2005 5:32:06 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster

Prehistoric badger had dinosaurs for breakfast

Michael Hopkin

Fossil of a surprisingly large, carnivorous mammal is discovered in China.

This artist's impression shows how the metre-long mammals might have looked.

© Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Archaeologists have dug up a new species of mammal that roamed China during the reign of the dinosaurs. The creature was large enough to feast on young dinosaurs, exploding the myth that all of the mammals living back then were relatively tiny.

Repenomamus giganticus, as the creature has been christened, was more than a metre long, about the size of a large dog. However, it would have more closely resembled a badger, says Yaoming Hu of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who led the examination of the fossil.

The fossil, which dates back 130 million years and was found in Liaoning in northern China, has a skull that is double the size of that of its closest relative, R. robustus, Hu and his colleagues report in this week's Nature1.

This makes it a startling addition to the ranks of Mesozoic mammals, who lived with the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago. "We were totally surprised," Hu told news@nature.com. "The idea about Mesozoic mammals is that they were small. These ones are totally different."

Digestible theory

So big, in fact, was R. giganticus that it may well have had some dinosaurs for breakfast, literally. At the same site, the researchers uncovered a R. robustus skeleton with the bones of a baby Psittacosaurus in just the spot where its stomach would have been.

The idea about Mesozoic mammals is that they were small — these ones are totally different.

Yaoming Hu
American Museum of Natural History, New York

If R. robustus could manage to eat a dinosaur, then its big brother almost certainly could, Hu and his colleagues suggest. They add, however, that it may well have fed on plants and insects too.

"If this is not the largest Mesozoic mammal, it must be approaching it," comments Jerry Hooker, who studies prehistoric mammals at the Natural History Museum in London. "Its jaw length is about that of a fox."

The idea that Repenomamus ate young dinosaurs is very plausible, he adds. The dinosaur bones found with R. robustus are from a single individual and some are still articulated, making it unlikely that they were washed there from elsewhere after death.

The skeleton of R. giganticus was found in Liaoning, China.

© Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The bones' articulation also suggests that Repenomamus tore its prey limb from limb before gulping it down in large chunks, Hooker argues. This theory is bolstered by the fact that the mammals' teeth are sharp, with no molars.

One way to confirm that the Psittacosaurus was eaten would be to look for corrosion on its bones from digestive acids, Hooker suggests. "Mammalian carnivores today have very strong digestive juices," he says. Hyenas' stomach acid, for example, can make holes in bones and teeth.

Hooker rejects the suggestion, however, that Repenomamus supplemented its diet with vegetarian options. "I would have thought it unlikely that they were eating plants," he says. "With these teeth you wouldn't expect them to do a lot of grinding or crushing, and that's what you would need, like a pestle and mortar."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: archaeology; badger; dinosaur; fossil; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; history; mammal; spectorrector
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To: ValerieUSA
Intelligence is just a foreign concept to them.

And them some. It's amazing to see these guys smacked in the face repeatedly with the truth, only to watch them continue to mutter the same old, same old.

I would think they would become tired of being the village idiots of academia. It appears that's not the case. Maybe it stems from their love of the past.

21 posted on 01/13/2005 6:38:47 PM PST by lizma
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To: TigerLikesRooster

They may have just died together. Without a stomach, it's pure conjecture.


22 posted on 01/13/2005 6:59:14 PM PST by aimhigh
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To: terabyte
BadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadger MUSHROOM MUSHROOM

You ain't gonna believe this....

23 posted on 01/13/2005 8:50:32 PM PST by Terabitten (How many of them can we make die? Heather Alexander, "March of Cambreadth")
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To: FDNYRHEROES

lol


24 posted on 01/13/2005 9:04:00 PM PST by txhurl
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To: SunkenCiv

Maybe I am not getting this. What is the big deal about a 3 foot long badger?


25 posted on 01/13/2005 9:07:34 PM PST by IllumiNaughtyByNature (If Islam is a religion of peace they better fire their PR guy!)
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Comment #26 Removed by Moderator

To: Great Prophet Zarquon

go to badgerbadgerbadger.com and see for yourself. it's funny.


27 posted on 01/13/2005 9:15:34 PM PST by IllumiNaughtyByNature (If Islam is a religion of peace they better fire their PR guy!)
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To: Allan

bump


28 posted on 01/13/2005 9:16:51 PM PST by Allan
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To: K4Harty

Oh, and I suppose, if it had been a three foot long *mushroom*, you'd have been impressed... ;')


29 posted on 01/13/2005 9:24:11 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on January 13, 2005)
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http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com


30 posted on 01/13/2005 9:25:12 PM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on January 13, 2005)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

31 posted on 01/13/2005 9:28:11 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: SunkenCiv

umm, ...yeah actually I would...


32 posted on 01/13/2005 9:28:53 PM PST by IllumiNaughtyByNature (If Islam is a religion of peace they better fire their PR guy!)
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To: K4Harty

;')


33 posted on 01/14/2005 8:51:07 AM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on January 13, 2005)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Not just badgers , but terrifying, carnivorouse badgers!

3rd-parties, you need to see the badgers, but the 2nd link is definitely more disturbing.

34 posted on 01/14/2005 9:44:26 AM PST by dangus
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To: TigerLikesRooster
Bucky loves dinosaurs for breakfast!
35 posted on 06/07/2005 12:26:31 PM PDT by highball
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To: highball

http://www.buckyslockerroom.com/photos/BLTS1016-2.jpg


36 posted on 06/07/2005 12:26:52 PM PDT by highball
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